The Laughing Wolf

The Chicago Way

Anytime I hear those words, I hear them in the voice of Sean Connery. His speech in a film truly does represent the Chicago way, from life to journalism. Yes, there is a Chicago school of journalism: a rough, tough, no-holds-barred way of journalism that is unique on the American scene.

Journalism had to be tough in Chicago for a number of reasons. The Machine, the Mob, Life in General all played a role in shaping one of the most feisty, boisterous, and hard-charging brands of journalism around. Reporters got roughed up, arrested, and even killed. The news still got out, and in the end the bad guys often got what they deserved while the good guys got some good press. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it tried.

I am proud that I was schooled in that way of journalism by some of the best in the business. By Darryl Feldmeier of the old Chicago Daily News, by Les Brownlee who was one of the first black broadcast journalists in America, and by several others who have taken me under their wing. To be a true Chicago reporter, you had to have been arrested at least once, so I failed in that respect. Came close once trying to get a picture, but didn’t quite make it. But the tenacity, the charge in and do what it takes spirit that is its heart is at the core of what I think it means to be a reporter, to be a journalist.

Honesty compels me to say that journalism is only one part of what I do in life. I make my living through words and images, and journalism has been just a part of that. Most of my words involve science and finance, some involve fiction, and others involve whatever it may take to pay the bills. There are things I will cheerfully do for money, and I take a certain amount of pride in the fact that while I may be a whore, at least I am not a cheap whore.

There is an easy shot here, but I am not going to take it. Part of me wants to apologize to my teachers, friends, and mentors for not living up to my potential, for not doing more, for my part in letting journalism sink this low. That sort of touchie-feelie thing is popular these days, and certain talking heads and politicians seem to make a career out of it. The part of me that will always be Chicago says “Frell that, and them.”

Guys, there is a story here. A good, juicy story. And to make it better, it comes out of the ichor of self-aggrandizing self-flagellation so popular with the worst part of America. It comes from the bastion of proper think, the New York Times. It comes from an organization that has tried to bill itself as the best of broadcast journalism. And guess what, it isn’t the “give me a hug because of all these horrible things I’ve seen” that the spin meisters are going to try to give it.

There is something buried here. There is something that someone is trying to keep hidden, or deflect. Every bit of the Chicago school that remains in me just hit the end of the chain with a snarl. Somebody is hiding something. Somebody is scared that something really bad is going to come out. Let’s find out what it is.

Everyone and their pet dog are going to go after the obvious and justifiably castigate CNN for doing what they did. I will limit my shots to the following: You can’t cut it in Chicago. With what you knew, you should have pulled out, protected what you could, and gone in with everything you had to expose the regime. From the first time one of yours was hit, you should have hit back twice as hard. The hell with your obligations to your viewers that you trashed, you owed it to your people, including your sources. You look after your own. That is one thing the Chicago school and good militaries have in common. CNN failed their viewers, their stockholders, the American public, and most of all – their people. An organization that fails on any of these fronts, but particularly the last, is beneath contempt.

That off my chest, let’s get to the real meat of this. What are they hiding? It is clear that they are hiding something. What is going to come out from Iraq about CNN that caused this form of pre-emptive strike in such a high profile manner? Now, it could possibly be that this really is the self-aggrandizing conscience clearing that the outer surface shows. But, I know my history. I know my history of journalism. I know what this means in Chicago, and to any reporter with half a brain and a nose for a story.

Somebody wants the obvious story pursued. Somebody is willing to live with the howls of outrage and calls for boycotts and such that will be generated. Why? Why are they willing to live with this? What scares them so badly that this is preferable?

Let’s find out. Let’s see if there are any real reporters left out there who can and will get to the real meat of this story. Let us keep the feast.

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